Fence



I W. A. GRAHAM FENCE Filed May '7, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l gvvuemtoz Dec,I 7 1,521,240

W. A. GRAHAM FENCE Filed May 7, '1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I, a u g L\ Q 3 Q{a W |Jl" 1. l: I v J H WILLIAM A. GAlllI, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

FENCE.

Application filed May 7, 1924. Serial no. 711,665.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L, 625.)

'To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. GRAHAM, Lieut. Colonel, J. A. G. D., acitizen of the United States, stationed at Washington,

a D. (3., have invented Improvements in Fences, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any ofits of- 1c ficers or employees in prosecution of work for theGovernment, or b any other person in the United States, without paymentof any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in It fences and moreparticularly to a portable,

sectional fence made up of panels of any preferred length, each panelhaving con necting means to provide for its attachment to the adjoiningpanel to provide a fence of any preferred length.

The objects being to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive fenceadapted for temporary or permanent use.

A further object being to provide simple yet substantial connectingmeans that may.

e applied to any one of the uprights of the adjoining panel.

A further object being to provide means whereby removable anchor orsupporting points may be applied to the panel when the fence is to beerected in the open, or not otherwise supported. 7

Another object being to provide sectional fencing adapted to be drawnabout the base of a hay or other stack of food, of sufficient height toprevent cattle reaching the food, said stacks being of a variety ofsizes, requiring a variety of lengths of fencing.

These and other objects will appear in the following description and befinally pointed out in the appended claims.

. Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings in which:

.Fig. 1 is a view showing a hay stack with the improved fence appliedthereabout.

Fig. 2 is a view of the fence when erected in the open, showing anchorpoints in dots.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail elevation of one of the fence panelsshowing a portion of the adjoining fence panel in its relative position.

Fi 4. is a horizontal section through the mem ers shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the anchor point which may be inserted in thelower end of the locking section of the fence panel, when the fence 18to be erected in the open.

The improved fence forming the subject matter of this application isespecially adapted for use onlarge ranches where hay, fodder, or thelike, raised as food for the cattle, must be harvested and stored instacks, said stacks usually being open or accessible to the cattle whichare not confined. The usual practice at harvest time is to build a stackhere and there on the ranch, and surround each stack with the usual formof fence, said fence being erected from 10 to 15 feet from the stack.When the cattle are to be fed, the attendant en ters the inclosure andthrows the feed over the fence thus feeding as many cattle as canconveniently reach the food, and from there the attendant goes to thenext stack and feeds more of the cattle.

The inclosures above referred to are of a permanent character and arefences built in the usual way which includes the setting of posts andrunning and mounting the fencing. When the stack is exhausted or theseason ends, the next crops of hay are not always stacked in the sameplace, and if it is desired to erect a stack in the same place it ismore convenient to tear down the old fence and rebuild it than toattempt to erect a stack within said inclosure. Further, it has beenfound by experience that the cattle in many instances destroy a fencebuilt as above described by attacking it with their horns or by beingforced against it at feeding time by the outer cattle of a large herd intheir efforts to reach the food.

This improved fencing is intended to obviate all the objectionablefeatures above referred to and is adapted to be applied around the baseof a stack and drawn tightly, said adjustment being possible byproviding the fencing in panels or sections, each panel being soconstructed that should there be an overlapping of the ends, less thanthe width of one panel, the securing means between one panel and thenext may be applied to any intermediate upright of a panel and securethe parts as efi'ectively as it would, if applied to the marginalupright, Said panels may be of any height, preferably about 5 feet, andconsist of a plurality of runner wires 1 and upright or paling members2. Said upright members and runner wires may be arranged in anypreferred manner and in any preferred number to 5 provide a substantialpanel, said upright members 2 are of suflicient gage to firmly supportand secure the adjoining panel thereto by hooks 3 mounted in the end orlocklng upright member 4 which is preferably con- 1 structed of piping,said hooks 3 are preferably arranged adjacent to the horizontal membersor runners of the fence, which provides for their attachment in acorresponding relation to the runners of the adjoining 1 panel, therebylocating the drag on the upright at a point as close to its support aspossible.

The marginal or locking member is adapted to be mounted at one of thevertical edges of the panel in such a manner as to ermit its rotation,said rotary member may e held in position by enlargements 55 above theupper and below the lower runner wires or by locating hooks 3 in such aposition above and below the runner wires as to maintain the lockingmember 4; in place. An 9 ening 6 into which a rod may be inserte orother convenient means may be provided for rotating member 4 and bring:10 hooks 3 into or out of engagement with the end or intermediateupright 2, of an adjoining panel.

Said rotary locking member lis preferably hollow and may be providedwith a point or stake 7 at its lower end to be driven into the groundfrom the top of the member 4 when'the fence is to be erected in the openor is not otherwise supported. It being understood that inclosures of atem- 10 porary character are very often necessary, on

a ranch, when segregation of certain cattle is required, and such aconstruction permits the erection of small circular or other shaped pensin a substantial manner.

23 In the operation of this form of fence and for which it is especiallyadapted, a stack of hay or other food for cattle is built in the openand a suflicient number of panels are secured to each other to providean a fence of suflicient length to entirely enclose the base of thestack. The manner of erecting the fencing is optional and may beaccomplished by one panel after another being secured in place aroundthe stack, or

the panels may be secured to each other while lying flat on the groundand When a sufficient number are attached, the entire fence may bethrown up against the stack and the ends brou ht together in such aposition as to perm mit t e hooks 3 to be brought into engagement withone of the uprights 4 of the opposite panel, the rotation of the lockingmember 24 being accomplished by inserting a rod into the openin 6 andturning the member 06 4 to bring its ooks into engagement with anupright of the adjoining panel, as will be obvious. L

When the stack has been'exhausted and the fence is no longer required,the panels can be disconnected and stacked in storage in a very compactmanner, or should it be necessary to transport the fence, it can beconvenicntly carried and handled on any transporting mediums used on aranch, and if constructed in a substantial manner and pro tected againstrust, will last an indefinite period, and be useful in nunjerous Ways.

It being understood that a fence constructed of the panelsheregdescribed may be arranged in a zigzag formation, each angularextension being composed of one or a plurality of panels.

Having thus described my invention ,'what I claim asnew and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachof said panels consisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality ofvertical members comprising a marginal member and intermediate members,and a rotary locking member adapted to be rotated to lock the panel toor release the panel from an adjoining panel.

2. A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachof said panels consisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality ofvertical members'comprising a marginal member and intermediate members,and a marginal rotary locking member provided with means to be broughtinto contact with portions of an adjoining panel to secure the panelstogether.

3. A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachconsisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality of verticalmembers comprising a marginal member and intermediate members, and amarginal rotary locking member provided with means for securing onepanel to the adjoining panel and anchor means adapted to be insertedinto the bottom of said looking member and into the ground to maintainthe fence inan upright position. I

4. A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachconsisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality of verticalmembers comprising a marginal member and intermediate members, and amarginal I rotary locking member having hooks adapted to be brought intocontact with an adjoining panel to secure the parts together.

5; A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachconsisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality of verticalmembers comprising a marginal member and intermediate members,and amarginal rotary locking member having hooks adapted to be brought intocontact with the marginal upright member of the adjoining panel tosecure the parts together.

6. A fence of the class described comprising a plurality of panels, eachconsisting of a plurality of runner wires, a plurality of verticalmembers comprising a marginal member and intermediate members, and amarginal rotary locking member having hooks adapted to be brought intocontact with the marginal upright member or an intermediate uprightmember of the adjoining panel to secure the parts together.

7. A fence panel of the class described comprising runner members,marginal and intermediate vertical members and a marginal rotary memberprovided with means for securing the panel to a vertical upright of anadjoining panel.

8. A fence panel of the class described comprising runner members,marginal and intermediate Vertical members and a marginal rotary memberprovided with hooks to be brought into engagement With the marginalvertical member of an adjoining panel to secure the parts together. 9. Afence of the class described comprising a plurality of runner members, aplurality of vertical members comprising a marginal member andintermediate members, a mar inal rotary locking member provided withIOOkS adapted to be brought into contact with the intermediate verticalmember of an adjoining panel, and an anchor adapted to be inserted atthe bottom of the rotary locking member and into the ground to maintainpanel in the vertical position. WILLIAM A. GRAHAM.

